Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V11_1/V11_143.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #143

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 143

Today's Topics:
       Re: NASA Headline News for 03/07/90 and 03/08/90
              Re: SPACE Digest V11 #139
           Re: Keplarian Elements Wanted !
           Sci. Am. Lunar Telescope Article
              Re: Challenger last words
               * SpaceNews 12-Mar-90 *
         Re: SR-71 Record Flight Information
     Re: `Blackbird' spy plane retires with record flight
           Re: Solar System Questions from a Novice
              Re: Challenger last words
               Re: NASA SR-71's
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 11:14:21 CST
From: [e-mail] (Lou Adornato)
Subject: Re: NASA Headline News for 03/07/90 and 03/08/90


03/08/90...
>Workers are closing off a high pressure leak, residual liquid
>oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants are being offloaded and...

I'm surprised that these aren't vented out between the deorbit burn and
re-entry.  I'd certainly feel a lot better knowing that there wheren't several
(hundred?) Kg of either of these on board during re-entry and landing,
especially if they weren't needed.

03/07/90...

> Access to the orbiter main engine compartment revealed
>a two gallon hydraulic system leak from a one-inch split in an
>outlet hose in auxiliary power unit one.  Officials are
>determining whether the line needs to be replaced.

So what's the alternative, Mach 3 tape?  Or do we just have the crew top off
the hydraulic system every 30,000 km?

Lou Adornato    |  Statements herein do not represent the opinions or attitudes
Cray Research   |  of Cray Research, Inc. or its subsidiaries.
[e-mail]    |       (...yet)

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 12 Mar 1990 15:38-EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: SPACE Digest V11 #139

> radius. You'd probably get very, very sick if your head projected into or
> beyond the axis of rotation.

I think you may be wrong. Look into Peter Diamandis's work on use of a
rotating bed to put stress on heart during sleep in 0g.

Also, I'm giving my first talk in Ireland tomorrow (3/12/90) so if
anyone happens to be in the vicinity of University College Galway at
around 7:30pm... Contact is Joe Desbonnet, sometimes reader of the
digest.

My usual subject matter, of course:

    The Private Road to Space

(ie who needs governments?)

Space and a pub crawl for Guinness and Irish music afterwards. Who
could ask for more?

Bye now!

------------------------------

Date: 12 Mar 90 09:05:03 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!jarthur!petunia!polyslo![e-mail]  ( * * * Hunter * * * )
Subject: Re: Keplarian Elements Wanted !


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
  (Eric Swansen) writes:

>Is there anyone (or anyplace) that can provide we with recent Keplarian
>Elements for satellites ?
>
>I've recently found this neat program that tracks satellites, but I need
>to add in the data for the "birds" that I'd like to monitor...
>In particular Salyut 7, MIR, Space Shuttle (updated 2x daily+/-) and
>perhaps other birds more visible from Earth....
>Ideally I'd like to TELNET or FTP to a site, but that is probably asking too
>much......
>Any Suggestions ?

Well, USAF prediction bulletins are posted on sci.space once every two weeks,
so you could get that sort of information from there.

#=============================================================================#
 |\_/| [e-mail] "PROGRAM: tr.v. To engage in a pastime
 {O o} [e-mail]   similar to banging ones' head against a
 ( " )  * Ack! Ack! Pfft! Ack! *   wall, except with fewer chances for reward."
   U   (Bill the Cat wants to fly.)
 Admiral Michael "Hunter" Huang  +---<<< * * * S T A R   T R E K * * * >>>---+
 USS Ticonderoga, NCC-1736       +--<<< * * * * L I V E S ! ! ! * * * * >>>--+
#=============================================================================#

------------------------------

Date: 12 Mar 90 19:50:46 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watserv1!watdragon!watyew![e-mail]  (Brian or James)
Subject: Sci. Am. Lunar Telescope Article


 The interesting thing about the article was the artwork. A nice
array of telescopes deployed without disturbing the lunar soil.
The litle moon buggy they show *is* leaving tracks, so either
the 'scopes were placed from above (an unseen boom attachment
for the buggy?) or the people doing the initial placement were
nice enough to return the site to its original boot-print and
tire-trackless condition.
                        James Nicoll
PS: Smilies for those that need them, of course.

------------------------------

Date: 12 Mar 90 21:16:27 GMT
From: uc!nic.MR.NET!ns![e-mail]  (John Logajan)
Subject: Re: Challenger last words

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (David Messer)
> writes:
>>Yes, the last words recorded were:  "No, I wanted a BUD Light!"  :-)
>
>You are quite a jerk, aren't you ?
>
>John Coughlin    Net: [e-mail]   Vox: 613-541-6439   Fax: [phone]

I think it IS funny.  David didn't say he held ill will toward the poor
victims of Challenger -- and there is no reason to assume otherwise.

I'd laugh at my own death -- but I haven't figured out a way to do that
yet. :-)

--
- John Logajan @ Network Systems; 7600 Boone Ave; Brooklyn Park, MN 55428
- [e-mail], [e-mail], 612-424-4888, Fax [phone]

------------------------------

Date: 10 Mar 90 16:36:54 GMT
From: pacbell!hoptoad!peora!tsdiag!ka2qhd![e-mail]  (John Magliacane)
Subject: * SpaceNews 12-Mar-90 *


Bulletin ID: SPC0312

                              =========
                              SpaceNews
                              =========

                         MONDAY MARCH 12, 1990

SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, NJ, and is distributed weekly
around the world on UseNet and Amateur Packet Radio. It is available for
UNLIMITED worldwide distribution.


* STS-31 NEWS *
===============
A series of background briefings on the Hubble Space Telescope,
the deployment mission, secondary payloads and the astronaut
pre-flight press conference for Space Shuttle mission STS-31,
now set for launch on April 12, will be held March 15 and 16
at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and
March 19 and 20 at the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston.

Briefings will be carried live on NASA Select television,
available on Satcom F2R, transponder 13 at 3960 MHz.  Two-way
question and answer capability will be available at other NASA
centers and at Headquarters.

During the mission, media wishing to focus attention on the
Hubble Space Telescope activities are advised to contact Goddard
Public Affairs, 301/286-5565, to arrange for accreditation at the
Goddard News Center.  Goddard will operate a 24-hour-a-day
newsroom during the mission and will have telescope scientists
and managers available for briefings and interviews.

[From: Peter E. Yee @ NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA]


* UOSAT NEWS *
==============
UO-14 continues to run the FORTH DIARY on the 1802 OBC, using Data formats
distributed just after launch.  The development, publication and
implementation of downlink data formats for OSCARs is a delicate business,
especially early in a mission.  We do not want to publish data formats if they
are likely to change quickly, lest people waste their time implementing
software which will later become useless.  On the other hand, if we do not
publish formats, you cannot listen to the satellites - and that's what they're
there for!

In the next month, we will be changing operating regimes on UO-14, as the
PACSAT Communications Experiment is brought on line.  Once this happens,
asynchronous data formats (as used by the DIARY) will give way to synchronous,
AX.25 packet formats.

As soon as possible, the PACSAT Communications Experiment on UO-14, and the
BBS systems on PACSAT-OSCAR-16 and LUSAT-OSCAR-19 will be brought on line for
general use.  All three of these satellites will be running the same software,
using the same protocols - developed jointly by UoSAT and AMSAT-NA.
NK6K and G0/K8KA have already published a standard for a broadcast
(e.g. bulletins and whole-orbit-data protocol.  A final specification should
be distributed soon, and early transmissions from the UO-15 PCE will use this
protocol.  Specification of the message-transfer protocol is well under way.

Thus, the stable state, which we expect to reach sometime this spring, is that
UO-14, PO-16 and LO-19 bulletin boards will be accessible with the same
groundstation protocol software.  Broadcasts from these satellites (e.g.
bulletins and whole-orbit data will also come down in a single standard data
format.  Until we change this state, groundstation software developers are
advised to make their programs modular and be ready to revise!

Downlink Modulation:

UO-15 is capable of transmitting either 1200 bits/second AFSK (as used on all
previous UoSATs and currently transmited by UO-15), or 9600 bits/second FSK.
Ultimately, the PACSAT Communications Experiment on UO-15 will support only
9600 bps FSK.  During the transition from DIARY operations to PCE operations,
however, we will also be transmitting AX.25 packets at 1200 bits/second AFSK.
Like DOVE, this should be copyable with a standard, unmodified, TNC.

[From G0/K8KA via OSCAR-11]


* FEEDBACK WELCOMED *
=====================
Feedback regarding SpaceNews can be directed to the editor (John) via any
of the following paths:

UUCP   : ucbvax!rutgers!petsd!tsdiag!ka2qhd!kd2bd
PACKET : KD2BD @ NN2Z.NJ.USA.NA

MAIL   : John A. Magliacane
         Department of Electronics Technology
         Brookdale Community College
         Newman Springs Road
         Lincroft, New Jersey 07738
         U.S.A.


                 <<< Stay on course......Say YES to Morse! >>>


<eof>

--
AMPR : KD2BD @ NN2Z (Neptune, NJ)
UUCP : ucbvax!rutgers!petsd!tsdiag!ka2qhd!kd2bd
       "For every problem, there is one solution which is simple,
       neat and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken

------------------------------

Date: 12 Mar 90 21:13:59 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Bruce Lowerre)
Subject: Re: SR-71 Record Flight Information

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Peter Kapner) writes:
> Interesting notion.  What does everyone think?  *Is* there a mach 4 bird
> hidden deep in some hanger just waiting to come out and reconnoiter at
> 100,000 feet?

Better than that.  The replacement is the space shuttle.  The SR-71 was
developed to replace the U-2.  The U-2 became obsolete when the Russians
developed a cannon ball that could be blasted high enough to shoot it down.
The SR-71 became obsolete when satellites were developed with telescopic
cameras good enough to photograph the license plate of a car.

As for mach 4 at 100,000 feet, the dream of hypersonic flight with scramjet
engines is being researched.

------------------------------

Date: 10 Mar 90 15:08:13 GMT
From: ispi![e-mail]  (Jonathan Bayer)
Subject: Re: `Blackbird' spy plane retires with record flight

[e-mail] (Jim Meritt) writes:


>       CHANTILLY, Va. (UPI) -- The Air Force's SR-71 reconnaissance plane,
>popularly known as the Blackbird, retired with style Tuesday on a
>record-shattering one-hour flight from the West Coast to the East Coast.

[deleted]

>record-breaking flight of just over an hour.
>..................................
>One hour?!?!!?


Yes, it was just over 68 minutes.  Look in one of the aviation groups for
more info.  It had an average speed of about 2112 MPH.


JB
--
Jonathan Bayer        Intelligent Software Products, Inc.
[phone]        500 Oakwood Ave.
[e-mail]        Roselle Park, NJ   07204

------------------------------

Date: 12 Mar 90 03:13:33 GMT
From: psuvm![e-mail]  (Zaphod Beeblebrox)
Subject: Re: Solar System Questions from a Novice

In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (Christopher Neufeld) says:
>
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Lori + 8/9)
>writes:
>>Are there dual-sun solar systems?  This poster didn't seem to
>>think so (but hey, it's pretty old).  If there are, how do the suns
>>revolve around each other?  Would the bigger sun tend to draw the
>>smaller one toward it?
>>
>   There are binary stars, but the presence of solar systems other than our
>own has not been demonstrated. A planet could orbit one of two suns, or
>their centroid if they were very close together (orbiting them both). The
>suns would revolve around each other the same way that the Moon and Earth
>revolve around each other. The bigger sun would draw the smaller one toward
>it, but only enough to maintain the orbit (if it didn't draw the smaller
>one toward it, the two suns would go their separate ways). The smaller sun
>would also draw the bigger sun toward it (action-reaction). The suns would
>not spiral in and collide in a small number of billions of years.
>   Last I heard, a planet could not do a figure-eight around two suns,
>because such an orbit would be unstable. Maybe somebody else has more
>recent information on this, though.

Hmmm. . .I remember hearing it's more likely that the 2nd sun revolves
just like a planet around the 'main' star just as if our Jupiter did the
big firework. . . any info?

MXP122 at psuvm.psu.edu

------------------------------

Date:       Mon, 12 Mar 90 09:16:55 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject:    Re: Challenger last words

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (David Messer)
 writes:
>Yes, the last words recorded were:  "No, I wanted a BUD Light!"  :-)

You are quite a jerk, aren't you ?

John Coughlin    Net: [e-mail]   Vox: 613-541-6439   Fax: [phone]

------------------------------

Date: 12 Mar 90 22:00:32 GMT
From: orc!inews!iwarp.intel.com!omepd!omews10.intel.com![e-mail]  (Larry Smith)
Subject: Re: NASA SR-71's


Henry Spencer writes:
>Don't forget why launching the D-21 from the Blackbird was abandoned:
>an early launch failed disastrously and both drone and launch aircraft
>were lost.  Even disregarding other problems, I think NASA would react,
>um, *negatively* to the prospect of losing one of their SR-71s...

In Kelly Johnson's book, I believe he stated that because of his close
friendship with the M-12 LCO, and the loss of this gentleman during the
July, 1966 launch attempt, he asked the Air Force to scuttle the
D-21A project. The Air Force agreed and the D-21B project started as a
result. Kelly also wrote that his engineering team thought that they
could make the high Mach M-12/D-21 launch idea work. But the project was
cancelled anyway. I never have been satisfied with this as the real
reason for the killing of the D-21A project, but as everything
associated with the Skunk Works, sometimes the fog evaporates over time.
I think we would have to see the real reason for the accident back in
1966.

By the way, the Germans, with the Saenger spaceplane, intend to do a
similar thing. The plan is to launch the rocket powered Cargus
(cargo payload) or Horus (passenger payload) from the back of the
Turboramjet or Fanramjet powered Saenger, only at Mach 6.8.

There has been mention of having the NASA SR-71s do high altitude
atmospheric research for NASP.

There has also been mention of using Pegasus for some NASP research
as well.

Larry Smith

------------------------------

End of SPACE Digest V11 #143
*******************